


in another life, i would make you stay

by superdanvers



Series: you've already won me over in spite of me [1]
Category: Teenage Bounty Hunters
Genre: F/F, april stevens just needs a hug and some god damn support, god this show man, post S1, the gay repression of it all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:06:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superdanvers/pseuds/superdanvers
Summary: April leaves the lock-in. There's somebody waiting for her.
Relationships: Sterling Wesley/April Stevens
Series: you've already won me over in spite of me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923127
Comments: 43
Kudos: 540





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so i started writing this while watching the champions league final, and despite having it all laid out in my head it still kinda got out of hand. but i love april stevens with my full heart and i have not stopped thinking about teenage bounty hunters in weeks.

April Stevens left the Willingham school building Saturday morning desperately in need of a shower, a large stack of pancakes, and a time machine to take her back twenty four hours. What was supposed to be a fun evening of students all locked and sleeping in the place they spent thirty five hours a week already had turned into a night of heartbreak. To think yesterday afternoon April was planning on spending the night next to Sterling, trying to act as inconspicuous as possible. How quickly plans can change. How all of the walls April has spent nearly a decade building can be slammed back up after a week of thinking maybe things could be different. 

As much as April wanted to leave the lock-in basically when she arrived, her high school was at least a known quantity. Who knows what could be waiting at her house. April only had an hour with her father before she had to leave, and that was enough for her entire life to practically be turned on its head. Again. 

April tightened her grip on her bag, fixed the hem of the shirt she thankfully had to foresight to bring so she wouldn’t have to leave in her pajamas like the rest of the student population, and clutched her keys hard enough so she could pretend her hands weren’t shaking. 

The sight once April reached her car in the parking lot didn’t help her stress levels much. 

Parked beside her car, leaning against her own with a look of pure murder, was Blair Wesley. 

“Get in the car Stevens,” Blair said without preamble. Without Sterling around, April didn’t think she’d ever set foot near that car. And Sterling did not appear to be inside the car or around the school. April looked. She couldn’t help it. No matter what she told Sterling last night, or what she told herself whenever she thought about Sterling, she always sought the other girl out. 

April had been up half the night. Nobody actually gets a full eight hours at these lock-ins, and when all of the kids did manage to get to sleep, April had been alone with her thoughts. Thus, she didn’t have the energy to produce a normal witty retort. 

“You are literally standing beside my car,” April managed dryly, before unlocking it and moving to put her bag into the passenger side. Blair blocked her path. 

“If you don’t get in the car yourself, I will tackle you to the ground and wrestle you into the back,” Blair explained calmly, her eyes never leaving April’s. “You don’t want to make a scene, do you?” 

A lot of April’s personality revolved around making a scene, but she decidedly did not want to have tiny firecracker Blair run at her. She had seen some of her lacrosse games, and heard about the aftermath of the fight between Willingham Academy and their crosstown rivals last term. 

The back of her mind screamed that wherever Blair was Sterling wasn’t that far behind. April shoved that thought deep into the recesses of her mind, because she didn’t deserve to see Sterling after last night, no matter how much she craved seeing the other girl, apologizing, begging for forgiveness. She made up her mind and she wouldn’t change her decision. But she still wanted to see Sterling, so she decided not to fight Blair much.

“Why am I getting in the car, Wesley?” April asks, despite locking her own car back up and wrenching the passenger side door of the twin’s Volt open. If she threw herself down into the seat with a huff, she thought it was justified. 

“You owe me,” Blair responded, getting in the car herself and starting the car. April snorted. 

Blair whipped her head to stare April down. April refused to back down. They stared at each other for a few tense seconds. 

Blair broke first, looking away to pull out of the parking spot and head away from the school. “My boyfriend broke up with me because of you, and then I had to go declare my love for him in front of his entire family like a fool, and then I had to learn that he was ashamed of me, and make this big powerful speech like my heart wasn’t broken, so yeah Stevens, you owe me.” 

April scoffed. “I’ve never even met Miles, I can’t see how I was the cause of the collapse of your relationship. Sounds to me like you are blaming everyone but yourself.” April could hardly even put a face to the name, since she didn’t frequent the country club with her dad (back when she did things with her father before she found out what he was really like) to know the staff that well. 

However, the look Blair gave April when she said Miles’ name was like she had just revealed something important. If April thought on it, the fact Blair had a boyfriend wasn’t school knowledge, since he wasn’t from Willingham. Therefore, April had to have learnt this piece of information from Sterling. It was in that moment that April was confronted with the fact that this was the first time she had seen Blair since Sterling told her. Sterling told Blair about them. 

April’s heart stopped and her lungs froze and she felt like she might be sick all at once. For years April had hid the fact she was gay from everyone she knew, and now in a week two people were aware of her enormous secret. While kissing Sterling had felt like a release, being stuck in a car with her twin felt like a nightmare. Blair could ruin her with one word. And to make matters worse, April had made Sterling cry last night, and apparently ruined Blair’s relationship. 

“It’s your fault Stevens,” Blair started. “Because when Sterling should have been at work having my back, she was apparently too busy discovering herself or whatever the fuck constitutes ignoring my seven phonecalls. I needed her to do her job, but instead I had to run around and make a fool of myself. So yeah, I kinda blame you Stevens. Maybe if you kept your hands to yourself…” Blair trailed off, like she realized her argument wasn’t the most sound thing. It definitely wouldn’t have held up in debate. 

“Sterling wasn’t racing to kick me out of the driver’s seat of this car, if that is what we’re talking about,” April said. She didn’t know what possessed her to say it. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was the fact her heart was also broken, maybe her attitude finally came back and she wanted to see Blair squirm after feeling so unsteady this entire time in her presence. April knew she could have denied everything about her and Sterling, despite knowing Blair knew. Compartmentalizing the heartbreak through repression was what she normally would do. It was what she was planning on doing. Acknowledging it was a huge step into the unknown. 

The relief she felt watching Blair react and cry about needing the wash the entire car was brief but satisfying. It caused April to sober up a bit and realize she still did not know where Blair was taking her, whether to toss her off a bridge or maybe-hopefully-please god no-to see Sterling. 

“If you are going to kill me and bury my body, please do yourself the favour and quit now Wesley,” April said, staring out the window and noticing that wherever they were going, it was not to the Wesley household. 

“Like it would even be that hard,” Blair scoffed back. “That would be a preferable Saturday morning, but sadly I am desperate.” 

Blair pulled into a lot and parked in front of a building with a tacky paint job and a sign that read _Yogurtopia_. “You really know how to charm a girl Wesley, but I’m not interested.” 

Blair looked seriously close to punching her, but April had recovered enough to revert back into her assholeish self that taunted the Wesley sisters at every availability. 

“You are such a bitch, I will never understand why Sterling likes you,” Blair muttered to herself and April’s heart stopped a second time at the present tense. _Likes._ “I need you to go in there and talk to Sterling.” 

April would’ve been a fool to not guess that Sterling was inside. Of course she was, why else did Blair bring April here. But actually being confronted with seeing Sterling after last night, without proper planning and apologies rehearsed. April wasn’t ready. 

“I am the last person Sterling wants to see,” April said, trying hard not to let the pity and self-loathing she felt creep too much into her voice. The last person she wanted to see her vulnerable was Blair Wesley. 

“Listen, Stevens, I don’t like you,” Blair started. 

April fake gasped. “You don’t?” Blair gave her a look that said this is exactly why. After a deep breath Blair was able to grit her teeth and hold back whatever she was going to say. 

“ _But_ , for some reason Sterling has found herself liking you. Something happened last night, and Sterling refuses to go home and she won’t say more than five words at a time to me. Sterling needs _somebody_ , and as much as I hate it, I honestly think she might talk to you.” 

April shook her head. “Yeah, I happened last night.” 

“Stop being so self centred, her life doesn’t revolve around you,” Blair said. “Now, I don’t know what mess you made last night other than I will be beating your ass for it later, but for now I need you to make sure she is alright because I am really fucking worried and she _won’t talk to me about anything!_ ” 

April had reached the point of being rather concerned and curious as to what was going on, why she was sitting outside a yogurt shop before nine in the morning with someone who hated her. But staying in the car facing Blair was somehow less terrifying then breaking her heart again by being near Sterling. 

“I couldn’t do it Blair,” April whispered. “She just wanted to hold my hand during the lock-in and I just-I couldn’t.” 

“I already said I was going to beat your ass later Stevens, don’t tempt me right now,” Blair said. She leaned over and unbuckled April’s seatbelt. “Now, move.” 

April stood shakily out of the car and managed the couple steps towards the door before she stopped dead, completely panicked. There was no way Sterling would not throw her out, not after rejecting her last night. Not after Luke came back inside looking like someone had just handed him a puppy. It didn’t take a detective to deduce what happened. 

“Just,” April stuttered. “Just go find Luke. Trust me, Luke is the one you need.” 

Blair may have hit her head on the door, but April was too fidgety to focus on much other than her own racing heart rate and breathing. 

“April, listen to me for one second for once in your life, please,” Blair said. April dimly registered in the back of her mind that this was the first time Blair had called her April this entire time. “I get that you’re scared. I’m sure you’re going through a lot. But everyone is, so stop being so fucking selfish and think of someone else.” 

With that Blair opened the door and gracelessly shoved April inside. 

“Blair, I can guarantee that seeing me will not make things better,” April whispered, getting desperate. “Sterling got back together with Luke last night, really just let me leave before things get worse. Luke can help her far more than I can.” 

Blair looked to the sky. “You can’t just ever do something, you have to be dramatic first.” April decided not to respond to that one. 

“I cannot believe I am saying this, but in the two conversations I have had with Sterling involving whatever the hell happened with you two-” Blair made a series of hand gestures that curled April’s lip. “-I have seen her act more lovestruck over you than I ever did in the six years she was dating Luke. She put on _lipstick_ for you. Buck up cowboy, for some reason you’re it.” 

*** 

Around the counter of some gross looking yogurt toppings and a fudge dispenser that has definitely seen better days was the office that held Sterling. The place was a mess, with papers thrown everywhere, a desk that didn’t have a clear surface in sight, and racks on racks of fudge and old candy. It took April a moment to move past the scantily clad cardboard cutout of a woman in the corner, but after her eyes adjusted to the terrible lighting April spotted Sterling on the couch in the corner. 

Sterling looked terrible. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, her hair was a mess, and it didn’t seem like she had slept all night. A thin, ratty blanket that had seen better days covered her form, and tissues were everywhere. There was a minimum of three empty frozen yogurt containers within reach of the couch. April wanted nothing more than to be the one to comfort Sterling, but deep down she knew she had at least partially caused this. She gave up the right of comfort last night. 

Seeing Sterling look so miserable made the guilt April felt expand into every crevice of her body. Just five seconds of seeing the consequences of her actions had April ready to bolt, but when she took a step backwards she ran straight into Blair. 

“Got you something, Sterling,” Blair announced. Sterling looked up from whatever pile of self pity she was in and their eyes met for the first time since she left Sterling sitting on that bench not twelve hours ago. 

April hated her body’s reaction to making eye contact with Sterling. She hated the simultaneous need to run as far as she could from the girl, and the need to close the distance as soon as humanly possible. She hated how when Sterling saw her she froze and her eyes filled with tears, yet she didn’t look away. 

April had to be the one to look away. 

April wished she could be braver. 

“Seriously, Blair?” Sterling asked. Her voice was somewhat hoarse, like she had been crying half the night. Maybe she had been. April sure felt like she had, even if the only time she let the tears fall was four in the morning, hiding in the bathroom stall when sleep still refused to come. 

“You think I wanted to?” Blair asked, slightly incredulously. She stepped around April to drift towards her sister, who was sitting up to not be lectured to while vertical. “You refused to go home, you hardly speak to me, you’ve eaten half your weight in yogurt since we got back.” 

“April-“ Sterling started, looked at her, stopped completely like her name tasted bad in her mouth now. “Why?” 

April had that question running through her thoughts nonstop. Why did her father get out of jail just when she was finding her feet in something? Why did the mere mention of Sterling’s name from her father transport April back to being thirteen, close friends with Hannah Johnson, her father commenting on the strangeness of their relationship. Just two young girls. Like the friendship was wrong. 

April had been building her walls as long as she could remember. Her shining bitch exterior. It served her well, but last night she reverted in too deep and hurt Sterling too much. 

She just couldn’t face telling Sterling no. Luke has seemed the easier option. The one April from a couple of weeks ago would choose. But here she was face to face with the consequences of her actions. The person she broke. The only one in this town she truly cared about. 

“I remember what you said last night,” Blair was still talking. “You need to talk to someone, even if it’s not me and it has to be Jesus’ favourite bitch here. And if that doesn’t work out, you can also have a big you don’t deserve me speech. It maybe helps.” 

Sterling looked at April again, and she wished the floor would swallow her up just so she doesn’t have to be examined by Sterling in this way. 

(She wishes it were forty eight hours ago when Sterling was exploring her body with her hands and lips instead of her glare). 

(She used to be able to look at Sterling and not think about kissing her once. When her walls were high enough all she felt was irritation. How irritation would be so much more convenient now than whatever...this was). 

April saw a flash of a look she knew well beneath the sadness and despair written all over Sterling’s face. It was the look Sterling got before she was going to do something that would piss her off. 

“Hey Blair,” Sterling said. “Can you go grab me some new clothes?” 

Blair was startled. “You know they won’t get off my ass if I go home, especially without you.” 

“Please?” Sterling gave Blair puppy dog eyes, but her twin was not phased. 

“I also don’t wanna leave you alone with queen prissy pants here, who knows what hexes she could bestow upon you while I’m gone.” April laughed but quickly hid it into a cough. Protective Blair was something. 

“You were the one that brought her here,” Sterling pointed out, which April was also thinking. What was the point of her being here if Blair was going to complain about it. _Maybe that was the point._

“Yeah, but I figured I’d be watching over her shoulder, ready to pounce.” Blair and Sterling stared at each other for a couple seconds, which April had seen before and found rather annoying. If April were to be honest, it was because she had never once felt close enough with someone to read their gestures and faces. But April was seldom honest with herself. 

“Please Blair,” Sterling said suddenly, breaking away from her staring contest. “I had my heart broken and then got kidnapped in these pajamas. I really would like to change.” 

“What!?!” April couldn’t help the squeak in her voice. She was too dumbfounded to care. 

“I’ll talk to April, okay, if you get me some clothes. Maybe I’ll go back home myself later.” 

Blair sighed but eventually relented. “Let it be known that I do not agree with you two alone together. I’ll let Bowser know to come back, and if Miss Katy Perry circa 2008 here tries anything I will not be held accountable for my actions.” 

*** 

“So that’s what happened to me after the lock-in,” Sterling finished on an upbeat-sounding note, as if she hadn’t just turned April’s head around. She could hardly form a coherent thought. The entire time Sterling explained the events of the night, it took all of April’s waning mental capacity to keep track of all the twists and turns. 

“Sterl…” April said but trailed off. She truly didn’t know what to say. What could she say? _Sorry you’ve been lied to your entire life? Sorry you had to go through three traumatic experiences in an evening? Sorry that even though you were kidnapped and had your entire life turned around by a revelation, all I can think about is how I pushed you away and nearly lost you?_

April felt the guilt settle deep in her chest. If she hadn’t reacted the way she did to her father’s return, if she wasn’t as cruel as she was to Sterling last night, then maybe Sterling doesn’t leave the lock-in. Maybe her psycho twin mother doesn’t snatch her on her way to Mexico. April had a role to play in this. 

“I’m sorry,” April settled on. It felt hollow in her mouth, like everything had since her previous experience with Sterling in the Volt. “If I hadn’t let you out…” 

“Hey,” Sterling said, briefly touching April’s hand before snatching it back. It was like Sterling remembered that the two of them were not in a place where casual touches were allowed. April became aware once again of the cavernous space between them. In reality it was less than a foot of couch and a blanket, but April and then Sterling’s rejection of whatever they were last night left a divide. 

“I didn’t tell you this so you would feel bad about your choices. I mean, you made some really shitty decisions last night,” Sterling said. “But I am glad you let me out. I would’ve been miserable stuck there all night.” 

“Yeah, like I was,” April whispered, not caring whether Sterling heard her or not. She couldn’t pretend she was fine anymore. 

“Why didn’t you just talk to me?” Sterling asked after the two were silent for a few awkward seconds. April tried hard to fight the tears that were threatening to escape. 

“It seemed easier that way,” April said, daring not to look at Sterling. She regretted the way she went about it, but April still knew she could not have been with Sterling. God, why couldn’t they have just been able to be together secretly. 

“Easier…” Sterling laughed harshly. “April, what part of using Luke like that was easy for anybody?” 

April flinched. She hated herself for having to flirt with Luke in front of Sterling, but she knew it was the most effective way to hurt Sterling. Because that was what April was trying to do, at the crux of it all. 

April considered deflecting about how Sterling had immediately gone back to Luke, not two minutes after wanting to be with her. But there was something about Sterling, whenever she was alone with her and Sterling gave her the look that seemed like it went right into April’s soul. Just being with Sterling made April want to tell the truth. 

“I would’ve understood if you just told me,” Sterling had evidently thought April had been quiet too long. “You were just setting multiple people up for heartbreak by involving Luke. He-god knows what he thinks now.” 

“He thinks you two are back together,” April said dryly. “He wouldn’t shut up about it all night. So I guess the big plan backfired for me and I got you your boyfriend back. All is right in the world again.” 

Sterling made a noise that sounded vaguely like a growl, and it startled April so much she looked at the other girl on the couch for the first time in a while. Sterling was gripping the cushion of the couch with both hands and looked as frustrated as she usually did when the two of them fought, before all of this happened. 

“I don’t want to be with Luke!” Sterling shouted. “I want to be with you! I want to go on dates with you, and I want to hold your hand as we walk down the halls, and I want to not have to sneak to the FunZone after school to be able to be with you, and I really don’t want to lie to Blair about it because she means the world to me and we tell each other everything, even stuff I don’t want to share but that’s how we are. Not telling her about you ate me up inside, and now I have seen first hand how terrible, shitty lies affect those around you.” 

April was floored by this confession. Logically she knew all this, but it was another thing entirely being yelled at by a girl in torn pajama pants. 

“You-you still want to be with me?” April asked slowly, shell-shocked. She thought she completely burned that bridge down when Sterling refused her maybe someday suggestion. 

Sterling laughed cynically. “You’re the one that doesn’t seem to want to be with me right now, but I get it. God, I am a mess. I don’t want to be in my head right now” 

April became aware of how they seemed to have gravitated towards each other in the middle of the couch. That made it so easy to grab Sterling’s nearer hand between her own. “All I could want is you, but Sterl, look at where we are.” 

Sterling was staring at their hands. She wasn’t pulling her hand away, which was something. It took a moment for Sterling to snap out of it and look around the room. 

“Uhhh, in Bowser’s office?” 

April filled the name Bowser away for a later moment and shook her head. 

“Sterling, we live in Atlanta. We go to a Christain private school. I explained to you multiple times that my parents-” April nearly broke down thinking about her father. The tears she had long been trying to supress were falling now. “-my parents are my _parents_. You said earlier that if I explained to you what was going on instead of flirting with Luke you would have understood, but I have been outlining why being out for me just isn’t a good idea for days, but you kept on insisting. Don’t you get it Sterling? I want to, I wanted you to convince me. For fucks sake, I wanted to hold your hand last night so badly it nearly killed me, but I can’t get kicked out. I can’t break my family even more than my father has.” 

Sterling didn’t move and April dared not to breathe. This was her heart laid bare now. Ruin or bust now. 

“If we were anywhere else,” Sterling said. The bitterness in her tone was back, and April doesn’t think she’s ever seen Sterling this unhappy ever. “I never meant to pressure you, I hope you realize. It’s just-it’s just that you make me feel more than I ever have when I was with Luke, with anyone, really. I wanted to tell people because when I’m with you I feel like a character from a cliche 80s’ movie my parents make Blair and I watch occasionally. I wanted to hold your hand because sometimes it feels like I might burst if I don’t. Like I’ll die if I don’t kiss you.” 

April and Sterling stared at each other. Then, by their still joined hands, Sterling tugged April towards her and crashed their lips together. 

April was too shocked to respond at first because her brain was fried from her terrible day and she truly never thought she would do this again and this was the second time Sterling had shocked her by kissing her which was extremely unfair. April needed to get back at her somehow and _god_ Sterling was kissing her. 

_Sterling was kissing her._

April got her hands in between them and shoved Sterling away. “We can’t do this,” April said, out of breath for multiple reasons. “I-I can’t do this. You said no to someday.” 

Sterling looked at her with heavy lidded eyes and nodded solemnly. “There’s too much going on, and we can go back to hating each other once we leave today, but you make me _feel_ , April, and I’ve felt numb for hours. I just want to feel _something_.” 

Sterling leaned forward again slowly, giving April the time and space to stop it. April put their foreheads together, bumping her nose against Sterling’s, the fear of falling in the pit of her stomach. 

“I’m not sure if I can go back if we do this.” 

April’s eyes were squeezed shut. Honestly, if Sterling kept kissing her any longer, there was no way she could go back. The week already had left her completely wrecked, but one more kiss would send April over the edge and she didn’t think she could build her walls back up. 

“I’ll tell you everything later so that you’ll hate me again, but right now I just want to feel with you, if that’s okay?” 

There was so much to unpack in that statement: April still not knowing everything despite Sterling winding a twenty minute tale, Sterling knowing something that would make April hate her, Sterling asking if it was okay to kiss her. 

One of the things April prided herself on was her strong will. How she never caved to anyone or anything. However, Sterling made her putty in her hands, and if this would make Sterling feel better, how could she refuse. A stronger, mentally sound and healthy person might not have leaned forward to kiss Sterling, but if April could do anything, it was acknowledge that there was nothing else she would rather be doing at this moment. 

***

“For the love of god, this is not becoming a daycare for horny teens.” A gruff voice broke through, scaring the shit out of April. She shot off Sterling like she had been burned. April would deny gracelessly falling off the couch, but her heart was beating too fast from the fear of being caught and her breath was coming in short gasps. She considered diving under the couch to add to her misery but it looked like it had never been vacuumed down there. Ever. 

“Bowser, hey!” Sterling said, sitting up and dusting herself off like nothing had been going on. “Nothing to see in here, ha ha, just a nice formal study date about school. Totally only talking about the homework assigned to us yesterday.” April buried her face in her hands. 

“Sterling, I opened the door to my office, saw whatever you kids think constitutes as a study date these days, left to go rinse my eyes out in the eye wash beside the bathroom-” 

“We have an eyewashing station?!?” Sterling gasped. 

“-phoned my therapist to book an appointment so I can one day work through this trauma, and then came back in to find you were still at it. I swear to god you girls are taking years off my life. And if I ever walk in here to find you or your sister getting freaky with someone again, I’m firing both of you.” 

“Uhhh, noted,” Sterling commented. She put her hand on April’s shoulder and April flinched. She was sure Sterling noticed, but kept her hand there, almost keeping her steady. “April, this is Bowser, my boss. Bowser, this is April, from school, and absolutely no other connection to anything here.” 

The man, Bowser, looked at April, but she wouldn’t make eye contact. “Well, nice to meet you April. I brought breakfast, but I got it before Blair told me you ate a large portion of my frozen yogurt stock, and I didn’t know we had a guest.” 

“Blair brought her over, and then went to get me some clothes,” Sterling explained. She was rubbing circles into April’s shoulders, which simultaneously made her feel better and more flighty, because what if Bowser saw. 

“So Blair is the reason I needed to rinse my eyes out.” April felt her fight or flight start to set in. She stood up abruptly. 

“I gotta-see you, I’ll just-” April could hardly form words, she was breathing so hard. Her brain wasn’t holding a coherent thought, all she knew was it was screaming leave. 

“Hey,” Sterling said, grabbing her hand to prevent her from running. “Bowser shot a police horse at a pride parade, he’s cool.” If that was supposed to comfort her, it was not helpful. 

“For the love of, you can’t just tell everyone that Sterling,” Bowser exclaimed. This morning had far too much weirdness for April. A normal Saturday usually constituted pancakes, playing with her cat, and doing all her homework so Sunday’s could be free for God and family. Not heartbreak followed by revelation followed by insanity in a yogurt shop with a man she has never met before. At least he wasn’t outwardly disgusted yet. 

Suddenly the door slammed open and Blair’s voice yelled out her arrival. The other twin was back. 

It was all too much to take, being in a room with three people who knew April was gay, one of whom had just walked in on her with her hand up Sterling’s shirt. 

So April did the only thing she could do. 

She ripped her hand out of Sterling’s and ran. 

***

Acutely aware that Blair drove her here and she had never even been to this part of Atlanta before, April had to cosign herself to crying whilst leaning against a hideous mural on the side of the building. 

There were worse places to be having a panic attack, April supposes. Like in the same room as her dad, or in the middle of class. But it was just those two. 

April didn’t know how long she had been out there when she heard someone approach. Figuring it was Sterling, or Blair coming to take her back to her car, she tried to get it together.

April was shocked when Bowser sat down beside her on the pavement. 

“So uh, Sterling told me to find you and make sure you were okay, and Blair said to make sure you didn’t run far because she wasn’t done with you yet, whatever the hell that means. But I can just sit here if you want. I’ve had one hell of a night, and there’s no way I’m getting up to chase you.” 

The image of the man trying to chase her down snapped her out of crying a little bit. 

“It wasn’t like that, we’re not, I hate Sterling. We weren’t doing anything-did you really shoot a horse?” April stumbled over the words. Now that she had calmed down a bit her head was splitting with a headache and the words felt heavy on her tongue. 

“Okay, if that’s what you say, then I saw nothing and you two hate each other,” Bowser said, which took April by surprise. “But I must say, Sterling looked quite miserable and smitten when you ran off. And yes, I did shoot a horse while on active duty at a pride parade, but I would rather not get into that.” 

The thought of Sterling being miserable brought April back to her current situation, where she broke Sterling’s heart and her own in one go, and then Sterling got kidnapped and found out her family was a lie. 

“Sterling had a bad night,” April said, pretending it wasn’t a huge understatement. 

“Not a great one, no,” Bowser agreed. 

“It started with me,” April whispered, not knowing what possessed her to tell this stranger. Maybe the fact it was a stranger she may never see again. “She wanted people to know, and I didn’t-couldn’t, I couldn’t have people _know_. And I hurt her, and then everything else happened. I just feel so bad for being part of her pain, but with my father and school and _everything_ , I can’t be brave like her.” 

Bowser looked at her, hesitated, but then put his hand near her elbow. “Kid, you know it is okay if you do not want to come out? If you don’t feel safe, you don’t have to. Not that I know much, or anything about it really, but nobody can force you. If you aren’t ready, it’s okay. I’m sure Sterling knows that, deep down somewhere, and if she doesn’t I can get it into her head somehow.” 

Just the simple statement, the reassurance that April had never heard before in her life, it caused April to start crying again. The justification that what she was feeling had some sort of validity, it broke her a little bit more. 

Bowser seemed even more lost now. When the tears slowed again, April just nodded at him in thanks and closed her eyes and she leaned her head against the wall. She felt so tired now. Maybe she could have a power nap. 

*** 

Another person approached an immeasurable amount of time later. Bowser stayed with April the entire time, silent after their conversation. When April opened her eyes she saw this time it was Sterling. She still looked terrible, but now she had on jeans and a sweater instead of the weary pajamas. 

The sun silhouetted her and April was awestruck. She hated it. 

“Blair said she was able to put them off but my… parents will probably be showing up sooner rather than later,” Sterling explained. “I can take you back to your car now, to get you out of here. Plus, I need to tell you that one thing and then you’ll hate me again. So all will be normal for Monday.” 

Sterling stuck out her hand. April looked at the hand, at Bowser’s slightly confused face, at Sterling’s determined face. 

She took the offered hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you find yourself wondering while reading this "what is up with the lack of religion and south," that is because i went to public school in ontario and truly know jack shit outside of veggietales. and oh where is my hairbrush didn't leave many bible verses and catholic repression kicking around in the ol brain

Sterling watched April as she closed her eyes and leant her head back against the headrest. She had put April in the passenger seat of the Volt before going to get her wallet (thankfully not lost during the whole kidnapping plot) from Bowser’s office but for a moment she just looked at the other girl. 

April seemed so small at this moment. 

April always seemed larger than life despite her relatively small stature, but the entire morning April seemed curled in on herself. Sterling knew why, but she finally was able to separate herself from her own trauma after explaining it to April to notice just how fucked up everyone else around her was. 

“Girl, you got it bad,” Bowser said, standing beside Sterling after pulling himself off the ground. “I feel disgusted watching you stare at her like that.” 

“Psh, like this isn’t the exact same look you give Yolanda daily,” Sterling replied, still not able to tear her gaze away. “The fact you two looked at each other like that in front of children…”

“Shut up kid,” Boswer said wryly, but with a smile on his face. He seemed pleased with their banter. “That’s a good egg you have there, but please tread carefully. She’s fragile.”

Sterling knew, but she also had never felt so fragile in her entire life. Every single emotion she felt was on a knifepoint, and she knew in the next hour all the dominos will fall. 

“Her father is John Stevens.” 

Bowser inhaled sharply through his nose and followed it up with a large sigh. “Fuck kid, you really know how to pick them.” 

~~~ 

There was something different about being sat in the Willingham parking lot with April in her car while the sun was up. The place was just as deserted at 9:30 on a Saturday morning as it was 9:30 on a Thursday evening, but everything seemed more vulnerable in the light. Everything was visible now.

Sterling and April hadn’t spoken since they left the yogurt shop. For her part, Sterling felt too sick to her stomach trying to work out how she was going to get through the next conversation to chatter, and Sterling honestly thought that she had never seen April look so shattered. 

Sterling herself was barely holding on, but April looked like she was right there with her. 

Still, Sterling spent the entire drive with her right hand on the gear shift, hoping April would reach out and take her hand. Even a brush of their pinkies would’ve given Sterling some form of strength, but April was too transfixed with the passing Atlanta infrastructure to take the bait. That or she didn’t want to hold Sterling’s hand.

The car pulled into a spot and turned off, Sterling was now confronted with the fact that this might be the last time April would ever talk to her. 

Sterling hates herself so much for pushing the other girl. 

Her fingers drummer against the wheel in a high tempo beat. Her foot tapped on the brake. Sterling briefly thought her and Blair should start a percussion ensemble if the bounty hunters thing didn’t work out. 

Suddenly April’s hand covered her right, stilling her fingers and stopping the noise, and all Sterling could think was _finally she’s holding my hand again it’s been too long._

“Hey,” April said softly. “What’s up?” 

Sterling laughed nervously. “Besides the kidnapping plot and the lies?” 

“There’s still a lot to unpack there, I’m sure,” April started. “But was that what you wanted to talk to me about?” 

Sterling steadied herself. She could do this. And never get to kiss April again. 

Looking at their joined hands, Sterling did something impulsive. 

(Everything she’s done this past week with April had been on impulse and with little to no thought behind it. She was just moving on pure feeling. Sterling had been riding a high of just being with April and not thinking about anything but the girl beside her. A world with rose coloured glasses, focused only on April Stevens). 

Sterling wanted one final kiss to remember. One that wasn’t interrupted by Bowser, or life, or a bunch of kids running around playing laser tag. But Sterling didn’t think she deserved one last kiss from April, especially not with what she had to say. Sterling also knew April would most likely bolt if she kissed her in the light of day on school grounds like this. 

So Sterling brought April’s hand to her mouth and kissed her palm. To preserve a memory and as an apology for what she was about to do. 

“I need you to listen to my entire bit, please,” Sterling started. “I know it is going to be hard, but I need you to hear me out, my entire side of the story. Can you promise me that, at least?” April looked at her warily but nodded. 

“Do you remember what you said? Before I… kissed you?” The words ring out in Sterling’s head all the time. _If he can lie, then anyone can lie. Why can’t people just tell the truth?_ It was what pushed Sterling to kiss April, but it has also been a weight on her conscience whenever the other girl talked about her father. 

“The bit about teamwork, the lakehouse, or the lying?” April asked. 

“The latter,” Sterling said. She took a deep breath. “There’s something I haven’t been telling you, and normally I would never share it, but it has been eating me up inside whenever I’m with you, and I know Blair is going to kill me for it, but I know how much you hate lying, because you have to every day and it sucks so much, and now that my life has been destroyed by one big lie I really don’t want the same thing to happen to you and it to be _my_ fault that you feel the way I feel right now so I’m going to tell you and then you can hate me and I’ll never get to hold your hand again but that’ll be fine if I am just the one to say it okay?” 

April still looked super confused. Sterling knew she was rambling, but she rambled when she was nervous and she didn’t think she had been this nervous ever. It was worse than debate. 

“Blair and I were the ones that brought your dad in!” Sterling blurted it out. April’s face dropped, but now that it was out in the open Sterling needed to say it all as fast as possible. “We were driving one night, when a guy running from Bowser, who is a bounty hunter by the way, crashed into our dads’ hunting truck, and then we helped catch him, and then we needed money to fix the truck so we convinced Bowser we were bounty hunters and his next mark was your dad.

“There was a tip he was at the country club, and there was a confusing bit with him saying he was innocent, but we cornered him at your lake house and brought him in.” 

“Wha-“ April started but Sterling cut her off with a look. 

“I wish I could say I regretted it,” Sterling continued. “I wish I could tell you that what Blair and I did was wrong and selfish, just the actions of two girls in need of money. But the thing is I don’t. I don’t regret bringing him in, I really don’t regret becoming a bounty hunter because Blair and I are really fucking good at it and it feels like we are doing good in this world. The only thing I regret is how it affects you. Seeing you be a mess all these months, because your father was a terrible person and how it’s ruined your life. How _I’ve_ ruined your life. So yeah, I think it’s terrible the charges got dropped because someone who assaults women like that should be in prison, but I’m also so glad that you have your father back, because I know you love him. I mean, I’m also terrified he’s gonna try and get revenge on Blair and me. That’s why he asked about us, by the way. He doesn’t know about you, or me, or you and me. It was because I pistol whipped him, and Blair kicked him in the head. And we tied him up and put him in our backseat. Not because you’re a lesbian, he doesn’t know that. So you’re safe in that regard. I should stop talking now.” 

April looked like Sterling had just told her she failed an exam. Which was to say she had an expression Sterling had never seen before, and if Sterling was honest with herself she knew she had watched April Stevens enough to know her micro expressions by heart. 

“So, in summary,” Sterling said. “Blair and I are lowkey bounty hunters, your dad skipped bail and we brought him in, and I fully expect you to hate me now.” 

April was quiet for a long time but Sterling didn’t dare speak after she made her speech. She figured that if April hadn’t stormed out or slapped her, it was a good sign. 

“All the times I talked to you about what I was going through, and you didn’t say anything.” April whispered. 

“I couldn’t tell anybody,” Sterling explained. “Teenagers technically cannot be bounty hunters, so only Bowser knew. Not even his boss knew we’re still in high school! We hid it from our parents, our friends, and it broke up Blair’s relationship.” Sterling stopped herself there. 

“It didn’t involve them, did it!” April said forcefully. “You weren’t arresting any of their parents. God, was the only reason you asked, why you pretended to care. It was because you felt guilty.” 

Sterling felt her heart drop into her stomach. “Of course I felt guilty, but it was because I cared about you, and I could see how much it was affecting you.” 

“Of course it was affecting me!” April was yelling now, and steadily not looking at her. “I lost a parent, and I was questioning every interaction I had ever had with him. It broke my family, which you knew, because you were the only person besides Ellen to ask, but even that was because you were worried about whether your actions were going to come back to haunt you.” 

“Look, April.” Sterling didn’t have any more energy to argue with her. She hadn’t slept in over twenty four hours. If April was mad at her and making her life as hellish as possible, maybe Sterling could pretend the past month hadn’t happened. “I suppose it doesn’t matter whether you believe this, but I like to think you know I’ve never lied to you about anything important before. I think John Stevens deserves to be in jail for what he did, and I don’t regret what Blair and I did. In another world he would still be in jail and we would never have this conversation. But out of respect to the feelings I have for you, and first hand experience with lies being revealed to you in shitty situations, I wanted to tell you.” 

April was gripping her bag so hard her knuckles were white and Sterling could tell she was holding back tears. With one long, hard look into Sterling’s soul that unraveled everything, April opened the door of her car and stepped out. 

Sterling sat unmoving, letting the girl who turned her world upside down leave. 

Standing on the pavement, April turned around and leaned down to look at Sterling again. Sterling felt hope bubble in her chest. 

“I’m gonna need some time with this, Sterl,” April said. Sterling nodded, losing her breath at the use of her nickname. “It’s a lot to take in, but you’re not wrong, about him. But right now I cannot get past my anger at you not telling me all this time to rationalize anything.” 

With that, April shut the door, got in her own car, and drove away. 

Sterling stayed in the parking lot for a long time, beating her hand against the driving wheel and wishing she brought more Kleenex. After staring at her phone, typing and erasing and typing more texts, she finally sent one to April that she hated the least. 

Knowing the damage of the morning still wasn’t done, Sterling resigned herself and turned the car back on to head back to the yogurt shop. 

~~~

There were more cars in the parking lot than when Sterling left. More cars than there should be at a yogurt shop this early in the morning, especially when Bowser didn’t open up shop till 11. Sterling parked out front beside Bowser’s car and could see through the glass her parents sat around a table facing away from her. Opposite them was Blair, looking pissed. Blair noticed Sterling and gave her a look that said _I am going to beat your ass for being gone this long and leaving me with them all angry and sad._

Sterling shrugged in apology and tried to say _I had to tell April and I don’t think it went horribly but it didn’t go well either._

Blair abruptly stood up, startling everyone inside. Sterling saw her make a bunch of stay here motions before she stormed out. Sterling was tired of confrontations in cars, so she got out to meet Blair halfway. 

“What the fuck were you thinking,” Blair hissed. “We agreed not to tell anybody, but no rules apply to April now, huh?” 

“It was her dad, Blair,” Sterling said. “I had to tell her.” 

“You didn’t tell her after it happened, or the months in between, but now that you two are going steady you have to blurt out all our secrets?” 

“He’s out of prison.” This stopped Blair in her tracks. 

“What?” 

“The charges got dropped,” Sterling explained. “He is back, and he has already asked after us. Blair, I honestly think he might come after us for the whole bringing him in for skipping bail thing. So yes, I told April, because she is now in the middle of it and finding out the truth from somebody else sucks.” 

Blair laughed bitterly. “We’ll deal with this later, when the current situation has cleared up, but just so you know I am never telling you an important secret again since you’ll just blab it to the latest fling of the week.” 

Sterling hated fighting with Blair, because Blair always managed to cut deep into her with words and accusations. They used to only have major fights every couple years, and here they were having two shouting matches in as many days. The thing was, as much as Sterling despised it, she was just as tired as Blair’s edges being pointed at her. Maybe she had made some mistakes, but this aggression was unnecessary. Especially after everything she has been through. Sterling understood Blair was mad, and yes she should have run it by her beforehand, but she thought Blair should at least give her a little leeway when chewing her out like this.

“Good!” Sterling yelled back at her so-called twin. “I’m tired of keeping secrets, because when they are found out everyone is always so fucking mad you didn’t tell them! You know, I wanted to tell you about me and April, but I didn’t because she asked me not to. Because she was terrified that if you knew, then you would tell the whole school. She’s so scared over people knowing and it getting back to her family that she nearly ran from Bowser. _Bowser._ Because Bowser would run and tell the entire country club. So yeah Blair, I hated not telling you and the guilt ate me up inside, but I did it because she asked and I knew it was a reasonable enough request, but I also brought up telling you anyway. All the time. I pushed her into telling people and look where it got me. 

“And, since you never asked, April wasn’t particularly mad that we _arrested_ him, per se, she was mad at me for not telling her. So, keep your secrets Blair, I’ve had enough for a while.” 

Blair was quiet for a moment. Sterling knew Blair was still mad at her about Miles but she thought the previous night's events had lessened her anger. She may have just ruined that progress. 

“We agreed that we told nobody,” Blair spoke softly. “My relationship with Miles deteriorated because I couldn’t tell him where I was. And you just go and tell your girlfriend anyway.” 

“First of all, she’s not my girlfriend,” Sterling said, on her last nerve. “And second, maybe the reason you’re mad is because you know that if you told Miles he wouldn’t have stayed anyway.” 

Blair looked as if Sterling just slapped her. As much as Sterling hated it, she thought it was something Blair needed to hear. She just wished there was some time separating her heartbreak from this moment. Knowing the damage was done for now between them, Sterling just sent Blair a look of apology and went inside to face the storm that was Anderson and Debbie Wesley. 

~~~

“Sterling Wesley, where in God’s good name have you been?” The woman who raised her shouted as soon as she walked through the door. Blair had stayed outside, still slightly shell-shocked. 

“Hey, Bowser, can you go check on Blair?” Sterling addresses Bowser first. Her parents seemed upset that she was ignoring them, but held their tongues. Well, her mom. Her dad just sat and supported his wife. 

(Referring to them as anything other than her parents right now hurt too much and felt too confusing. She still had no answers from them, but after quite the pep talk from Blair she could acknowledge that while they might not have been her birth parents, they still raised her. She was still mad as all get out at them for lying about it though). 

Bowser started grumbling but left to go see that Blair didn’t do something foolish. With Bowser gone, Sterling was alone with her mom and dad for the first time since the Incident. 

“I had an errand to run,” Sterling lied. Her parents really did not need to know about April. 

“But,” Debbie said, slightly stuttering in her obvious distress. “This is where you’ve been? Since you refused to leave the trailer park with us?” 

Sterling nodded. In the chaos of the police showing up, Bowser taking off with Dana, and the ambulance showing up for Levi, Sterling was able to get away with Blair from under her parents eyes. Well, Debbie was being interviewed by the police when Blair guilted Anderson into giving them the keys to the car after Sterling made it clear she did not want to be around them. 

“You'd rather spend the night in a restaurant than in your own bed?” Her mother asked incredulously. Sterling nodded again. 

“I was mad at you too,” She explained. “I wasn’t ready to hear your excuses.” 

“Sweetheart, please understand the pressure your mother and I were under,” Anderson piped up. 

“Oh, if I separated myself enough from this entire scenario I do,” Sterling said. “You were being blackmailed. Boo freaking hoo. You just never respected me enough to bother telling me. Even when all these opportunities the last couple days came up.” 

Sterling was reminded of April’s argument from earlier. She basically was upset at her parents for the same reasons. That really cut her deep, since she didn’t think she was wrong in holding off telling April until now, but it also gave her some understanding of what April may be feeling currently.

“You guys have to explain yourselves to Blair and I, immediately, if you think we can ever be a proper family again. But I will give you guys the opportunity to. Once last chance” 

~~~ 

“-and then throughout Spanish I had to deal with Luke’s puppy dog eyes the entire class. What did you do to that kid Sterl, because he’s right back in peak pining mode. It was annoying enough a couple weeks ago, but this is madness now.” 

Sterling stared at the ceiling of her bedroom while she listened to her sister's voice ring through her headphones. Blair went back to school on Monday, but their parents told Sterling she didn’t have to go if she wasn’t ready. It was an offer she decided to take them up on. God knows what everyone thought happened to her after the lock-in. Especially since their family skipped church yesterday. Sterling did not envy Blair but they both couldn’t skip, especially after their day trip to Nandina last week. 

“I may have kissed him, at the lock-in. Before Dana showed up.” 

“WHAT!” Blair yelled, causing Sterling to grimace and remove an earbud due to the volume. “Oh move along. Freshman, dude. They are so nosy.” 

“You were probably making a scene,” Sterling replied. 

“No shit, do you know how hard it is to dodge half the student population while on the phone? In peak after school traffic? So, when you were gonna tell me about this Luke situation. And why did you kiss him if you were gonna be swapping spit with the other one twelve hours later?” 

Sterling groaned and covered her eyes. “It was a mistake okay! April had just...happened, and then Luke appeared and said he was going to ask her out, and he looked so sad and I was sad and upset and I told him he should go for it but realized that was a terrible idea so I had to stop him somehow.” 

“Your love life is a mess, girl,” Blair said, voice becoming muffled with the slam of her locker. “And you left me having to dodge Creswell all day, asking where you were and when you would be coming back. At least a half dozen times. Because saying ‘I don’t know, it could be tomorrow, it could not be’ is so hard for him to comprehend. And Stevens has glared at me all day. I’m shocked she didn’t burn holes through my vest.” 

Sterling’s heart started fluttering at the mention of April. “April? Did she talk to you? Or mention the whole, I don’t know, BH thing?” 

“Please do not call it that,” Blair said. “It sounds way too similar to BJ. And no, she has not talked to me. All she has done is stare daggers at me, which shouldn’t be surprising given what she knows. Stevens knows that she is still on my hit list, and now she should know what happens to those on it.” 

“Oh,” Sterling replied, crestfallen. She hadn’t heard from April since the single text on Saturday, reading _Of course, I’m not an idiot Sterl. Just give me the time I asked for._ Sterling hadn’t dared respond out of fear of driving April away. Well, anymore than she already had. 

“You are disgusting,” Blair countered. There was shuffling on her end of the phone. “I’ll be back soon enough, okay. Wait, speak of the devil. Shit.” 

More shuffling. “What is it?”

“The bitch herself is heading straight for me. Sorry, gotta go Sterl. Dodging and talking ain’t too great in these halls.” 

“Wait, Blair!” Sterling yelled. “Give her the phone!” 

Sterling held her breath as she heard Blair huff. “Are you fucking crazy?” 

Sterling heard Blair mutter and she thought she heard April’s voice, but by the terrible sound quality Sterling guessed Blair stuffed her phone in her pocket or something. God, twins could be a pain in the ass sometimes. 

Desperate, because she needed to know where she stood with April, Sterling made a bold move. “Give her the phone or I’ll tell people about what happened at the grade eight graduation pool party!” 

Silence from Blair’s end of the phone. Then, Blair spoke. “That is a low fucking blow Sterling Wesley. I won’t forget this.” 

“Just, let me talk to her, please.” Sterling begged. 

More grumbling from Blair. Sterling held her breath the entire time, hoping, praying. 

“Sterling?” April’s voice came clear through her headphones and Sterling sighed in relief. 

“April, hi,” Sterling said, and giggled. She, honest to god, giggled. 

“Are you alright?” April asked, her voice lacking its usual sharpness and taking on the fond tone she used when they were alone. Sterling heard the faint noise of Blair fake vomiting in the background but chose to ignore it. 

“I’m about the same,” Sterling responded. Honestly, coming back home to be coddled by her parent’s guilt hadn’t made her less mad at them, but she recognized that it was what she needed to do. “Are you still mad at me?” 

“I can be mad at you and still be worried,” April said. “The rumours going around are convincing, and Blair showing up without you hasn’t helped much.” 

“They can say what they want.” Sterling took a breath. “Look, April, the thing I wanted to say to you is, because I don’t think I said it to you the other day. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry this happened to you, and I’m sorry I had any part in it. I hope you can forgive me. Someday.” 

April gasped and held it for some time. Sterling wished nothing more than to be there, to be able to see April’s face. She resigns herself to quizzing Blair about it later when she gets back from school. But for now, all Sterling had to go on was an intake of breath and the prolonged silence. Sterling could hear lockers slamming and kids chattering in the background. 

“I’ll see you around sometime, Sterling,” April whispered, and then was gone. Blair got back her phone and was ranting about something or another, but all Sterling heard was that phrase reverberating in her head. 

_I’ll see you around sometime, Sterling._

***

Bowser was in his office going through his messy paperwork, hating himself for tearing it all apart in a fit of rage. The yogurt shop was always slow this time of night, enabling him to hide in the back and question his life choices. When the bell above the door rang out, Bowser grumbled to himself because he was in the middle of reading a file on some skip that he was going to have to restart due to this interruption. 

Seeing who was behind the counter resulted in his brewing headache fully materializing. 

“They ain’t here,” Bowser told April Stevens, who looked truly terrifying with her hair pulled back and a determined look in her eyes. And was she holding a briefcase? Sixteen year olds these days. 

“I know, that’s why I came now,” April said. “I’m not here to see Blair and Sterling, I’m here to see you.” 

Okay,” Bowser said slowly, confused and concerned. These teenage girls were going to result in an ulcer, he could tell. 

April put the briefcase on the counter and opened it up. It was filmed to the brim with files and papers and photographs. Jesus Christ, who was this kid? 

“This is every sketchy or questionable detail I could find the last couple days on John Stevens, my father,” the girl explained. “I need you to comb through this to find something you can use to arrest him.” 

Bowser stared at her, slack jawed. “Kid, this is a frozen yogurt place.” 

“But you are a bounty hunter,” April stated plainly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Bowser cursed those twins again. 

“Yes, meaning I bring in people who have skipped bail,” Bowser said, dragging April around the counter and bringing her back into his office. He grabbed the stalker briefcase as well. “I cannot arrest someone for crimes. Has he even committed a different crime? You know what, don’t answer that. What is wrong with you? Answer that one.” 

April pondered for a moment. “Seems like this may be more work than I originally anticipated.” 

_Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,_ Bowser thought to himself. _These rich white girls are going to be the end of my career._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was gonna be a one shot but then i started thinking. but this should be it. 
> 
> i thankfully have stopped listening to old katy perry songs 
> 
> in all honesty, the two scenarios i see happening in the hypothetical s2 is either april hardcore represses and supports her dad, or april says this man will perish and works to get him arrested. i like the latter better. plus april would be absolutely baller at bounty hunting bowser would love her, yolanda would love her, blair would despise it

**Author's Note:**

> y'all i just need any adult figure to tell april it is okay and support her 
> 
> and yes i was listening to old katy perry this week can you tell


End file.
